If you’re looking for a Zigbee option, the only controller that didn’t have flickering was the BTF-Lighting LM052 which also had very low idle power consumption and decent sized, easy to use press fit terminals. But the downsides of the LM052 are that it doesn’t have an external button connection, its power on state defaults to on and isn’t configurable, and in Home Assistant you can’t have the white channels on at the same time as the RGB channels when set up as an RGBCCT controller.
For local control WiFi, I think the Shelly RGBW PM, QuinLED An-Penta Mini, and An-Penta Plus are the clear choices. The downsides of the Shelly RGBW PM are its extremely small terminals, lack of a 5th channel for RGBCCT strips, and small delay during power on. But its small size, four button input terminals, and local interface are extremely convenient, especially if you’re setting up four different white LED strips instead of an RGBW strip.
The An-Penta Mini is extremely thoughtfully built and can be configured basically any way you want inside of WLED. But with all those customization options, changing settings isn’t as simple and foolproof as the other controllers and there’s no option to remember the last state power on by default. The increased build quality also comes at a cost and it’s $10 more than the Shelly and over three times larger.
The An-Penta Plus is basically an industrial design with significantly more power handling than most people will ever need, ethernet connectivity, and tons of customizability. But it is massive even compared to the An-Penta Mini and by far the most expensive controller in this video, which based on its build quality is totally justified, but for most people the design and specs are probably overkill. However, if you just want the absolute best no matter the cost, this is it.
The An-Penta Plus is basically an industrial design with significantly more power handling than most people will ever need, ethernet connectivity, and tons of customizability. But it is massive even compared to the An-Penta Mini and by far the most expensive controller in this video, which based on its build quality is totally justified, but for most people the design and specs are probably overkill. However, if you just want the absolute best no matter the cost, this is it.
